‘Mentri Besar’ is not English
I feel disinclined to agree with Fadzilah Amin that “Mentri Besar” is part of the vocabulary of English publications in Malaysia. It’s not compatible, if I may say so.
English publications, as I have observed, usually have non-English words printed in italics. Such being the case, the plural number of the designation should, appropriately, be Mentri-mentri Besar printed in italics.
English language publishers would shudder at the thought of using the English version of “Mentri Besar” in a report on, for example, a meeting of “Mentri-mentri Besar and Chief Ministers” – for wouldn’t it read like this: a meeting of Chief Ministers and Chief Ministers? The purpose in making the “distinction” is quite obvious.
Incidentally, the words exemplified by Fadzilah Amin as foreign words are not non-English words any more. You can find all those words, viz, maharajah (should be with a capital ‘M’ and also can be spelt Maharaja), Sultans, Nawabs, curries, durians, and rambutans in Chambers, Oxford and other comprehensive dictionaries.
Since its development from a dialect variously known as Anglo-Saxon or Old English in the 5th century, the English language has assimilated quite a good number of foreign words into its vocabulary. Even “tsunami” is now an English word. Of Japanese origin, the word literally means “harbour waves” – “tsu” (harbour) and “nami” (waves).
Another word that has been Anglicised decades ago is “kampong” which local newspapers still have printed in italics. I informed Chambers in December, 1978, of the change in its spelling to “kampung”, but they still retain the old spelling.
What about titles like Datuk, Datuk Seri, Tan Sri and Tun which foreigners do not understand? Exceptions? They wouldn’t look “pretty” in italics preceding names of VIPs, would they? – Quah Beng Kee
RSS
